Talking Points Memo

Lotta Money

2008-12-02T04:50:36Z

I'm reading an interesting article at the Journal about the second-try presentations the big three are planning to make to Congress. A very interesting read. But as much as we hear about executive compensation I was still a little struck by this line: Ford CEO Alan Mullaly "has earned close to $50 million in total compensation since taking the helm of Ford in 2006."

It was Mullaly who, when asked at that hearing whether he'd be willing to take a $1 salary in exchange for federal aid said: "I think I'm OK where I am."

More Trouble on the Horizon

2008-12-02T04:27:55Z

A Reader who knows the intersection of US and Israeli politics checks in on Netanyahu ...

Love the Bibi post. You are spot on - I think everyone has stories that will back up your characterization of him. I also think that if he doesn't play ball with the Obama team and their desire to reach an agreement, then he will end up being persona non-grata in DC like he was with the Clinton administration. And that's the last place an Israeli PM can find himself. That was one of the factors that led to his loss to Barak in '99. it'll be interesting to see how this potential relationship plays out...

Just Priceless

2008-12-02T03:58:05Z

TPM Reader DR updates us on the Tory trainwreck up North ...

Nice of you to notice, given the amount of time I've spent reading TPM for the last year...the best source ever for US election politics.
Anyway, the answer up here is Hell, yeah!

Stephen Harper didn't so much win enough seats to form a minority government in October; the Liberals simply lost dozens of seats because of a terrible campaign and a weak leader. Now that leader is poised to become prime minister of a coalition government.

Harper, who admires Bush's politics and tactics, is actually smarter than Bush. But he's much nastier, and chose a poor time to try to stick a machete into the opposition parties by cutting off their public funding for election campaigns (can you imagine Obama, upon assuming office, trying to eliminate public campaign financing?) and the entire civil service by banning their right to strike. That, and being the only G8 country to not initiate any financial stimulus for the economy.

Like Bush, Harper has contempt for government. Unlike Bush, that contempt extends to public spending: he hates it and would be delighted to see government as little more than a placid flow through mechanism for the private sector as it does whatever it wants.

Look north for the next few days...it's going to be fun!

I really can't think of another political leader of late whose hubris has had such immediate consequences.

TPMtv: The Day in 100 Seconds

2008-12-01T23:31:40Z

Ben Craw http://tpmtv.talkingpointsmemo.com/

D'oh! (Anyone Noticing This?)

2008-12-01T22:23:28Z

Did Canadian PM Stephen Harper (attempted tamperer in the Dem primary election) manage to bumble his way out of a job? Looking more likely.

Late Update: Needless to say, a lot of people have been noticing and watching this. My question above was addressing the almost complete lack of comment on these developments in the US press. Ian Walsh at Firedoglake has been on the case. As is this diarist at Kos.

Go Joan!

2008-12-01T22:17:16Z

What a pro ... Joan Walsh administers a nice smackdown to Christopher Hitchens on Hardball. We'll grab the video.

Late Update: Here's the video:

Bunning's the Guy?

2008-12-01T21:09:27Z

Is Sen. Bunning (R-KY) the Republican senator who secretly blocked the confirmation of an Inspector General to oversee the $700 billion we've forked over to stabilize the financial sector?

Our readers have gotten hard or soft 'no's from Sens. Coburn, Dole, Allard, Coleman, Warner, Hatch, Corker, Shelby, Sessions, Inhofe and Bond saying it's not them. But there's some reason to think the culprit is Sen. Bunning and he won't answer our request for comment about whether he's the guy.

Deep Thought

2008-12-01T21:04:05Z

I hate Obama for nominating so many people who've served in government before.

Late Update: I think it's a telling sign of the moment that the sarcasm of this remark was lost on more than a few readers.

Later Update: Even more telling that even after the last late update people are still writing in saying it's going too far to actually 'hate' Obama for his cabinet appointees? Newsflash: I was being facetious. Sheesh ...

Trouble on the Horizon

2008-12-01T19:54:36Z

There's a lot of speculation about what Obama's foreign policy picks mean. But what was and remains clear to me is that Obama, like most but by no means all Democrats, believes that settling the mess of interconnected messes in the Middle East starts with a negotiated settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Progress on virtually every other front can likely only be tentative at best until that issue is resolved.

Note, for instance, that Gen. Jones, Obama's National Security Advisor (remember, he doesn't need to be confirmed) made his post-military reputation as the US envoy helping to create the beginnings of possible Israeli-Palestinian coexistence in Jenin. Brent Scowcroft, who is I believe the key force behind the retention of Bob Gates, believes as a cardinal matter that you can't really solve anything in the Middle East before you get the Israeli-Palestinian problem settled.

And yet in Israel it's not at all unlikely that by February Bibi Netanyahu could be the Prime Minister again in Israel. I guess there's always the argument that you need a Nixon to go to China, that you need someone with impeccable security credentials on the Israeli side to make a lasting peace. That's one of abiding tragedies of Ariel Sharon's stroke. (It's ironic that Netanyahu, who's got a thin national security resume by Israeli standards, should be seen in that light since verbal and policy aggression are his only real calling cards. But that's another story ...) But Netanyahu is not only the voice of Israeli territorial maximalism, albeit in its current more limited form, he's also fundamentally unreliable person -- a charlatan.

For those of us who are heartened to finally have an administration that realizes this issue is as critical as it is, it's a very disheartening prospect on the horizon.

TPM Hires Capitol Hill Reporter-Blogger

2008-12-01T19:20:57Z

Just after the November election, I told you how we were expanding our original reporting capacity in Washington by hiring two new reporter-bloggers, one to focus on Capitol Hill and another on the White House and executive branch.

I'm extremely pleased to announce that we've now hired the first of the two. Elana Schor will start at TPM the beginning of next month. She's covered Capitol Hill for The Guardian for the last year and before that she covered the senate for The Hill newspaper for three years.

(We hope to hire the second DC reporter-blogger in the next few weeks, in time for them to hit the ground running with the new administration.)

To date, our original reporting has been mainly, though not exclusively, old-fashioned phone reporting from our offices here in NY or from our Muckraker reporters' home offices in DC. But as we expand our operation to chronicle the unfolding story of the new Democratic Ascendancy (of unknown duration) in Washington, DC we felt like a more on-the-ground, in-person dimension to our blog reporting was required. And with that in mind, our plan is to have our Capitol Hill reporter-blogger reporting from Capitol Hill every day. So this will be, among other things, an experiment in mobile blogging.

We're excited, both about the story that's before us and the chance to keep innovating in the field of digital news reporting and aggregation. So a big welcome to Elana and a thanks to you, our regular readers, who've made our continued expansion possible.

TPMTV: Sunday Show Roundup Extra

2008-12-01T17:51:30Z

More on the Mumbai attacks and on the group emerging as most likely responsible for them:

Bush: I was "unprepared for war"

2008-12-01T17:14:26Z

I thought it was an article of faith that they would have done it anyway.

From ABC ...

"A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein," Bush said. "It wasn't just people in my administration. A lot of members in Congress, prior to my arrival in Washington, D.C., during the debate on Iraq, a lot of leaders of nations around the world were all looking at the same intelligence.
"I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess," Bush added.

When pressed by Gibson, Bush declined to "speculate" on whether he would still have gone to war if he knew Hussein didn't have weapons of mass destruction.

"That is a do-over that I can't do," Bush said.

Your Help Needed

2008-12-01T16:39:33Z

You may not know this. But an anonymous Republican senator has put a hold on the nomination of the nomination of Neil Barofsky, President Bush's appointee to serve as the Treasury Department's Inspector General for the $700+ of bailout money. Having some idea of how we're spending that money and whether crooks or fraudsters are getting a big chunk of it is a pretty big deal.

So who is it? Who's preventing the IG's confirmation? The senate has some very hoary traditions about keeping this stuff secret. But with your help we can at least narrow down the possibilities. Basically, as we've done before, if you're in one of these states, call up your senator and ask them? Some will give a clear no, others will refuse to say one way or another. And from there we'll start narrowing down the possibilities. We're organizing the process over at TPMmuckraker.com. Come by and check it out.

TPMtv: Sunday Show Roundup: After Mumbai

2008-12-01T14:20:30Z

It's being called India's own 9/11. After a 3-day terrorist siege in Mumbai resulting in nearly 200 people dead, the question now is who is responsible and what are the challenges for the international community to prevent a further escalation of regional tensions?

Full-size video at TPMtv.com.

Election Central Morning Roundup

2008-12-01T14:19:26Z

Obama rolls out his national security team this morning at a Chicago press conference, while Sarah Palin campaigns for Sen. Saxby Chambliss in Georgia. That and the other transition and political news in the TPM Election Central Morning Roundup.